Hello Again
by Impossible Oswin
Summary: Set during Pond Life. The Doctor is lonely, so the T.A.R.D.I.S. takes him to see an old friend. Oneshot. Reviews welcome!


**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, or the Doctor, or Rose, or anyone in this fanfiction. But if I DID own the Doctor, I'd probably be sleeping in Space Florida right now.**

The Doctor darted into the T.A.R.D.I.S and slammed the doors shut. They rattled as an army of fifty Soltarans outside fired lasers at his vehicle. He rested his back against the wall and took a deep breath. What a day.

Traveling without the Ponds, even for just a couple weeks, was incredibly lonely. No one to admire his genius. No one to debate with over the coolness of his newest cool-things. Then again, nothing really was as cool without his loving companions. Aliens seemed less friendly. Gallifreyan upside-down trigonometry didn't give the Doctor the same thrill as when he used it to confuse his friends. Even the soft hum of the T.A.R.D.I.S console seemed almost forlorn.

The T.A.R.D.I.S was, in fact, upset - because the Doctor was upset. And she hated to see her precious thief in pain. She hummed as she wondered what she could do to cheer him up.

The Doctor's blue box shook. Those blasted Soltarans.

"Do you mind?!" He shouted. "I'm trying to have a melancholy moment here and it's being very much ruined by your potato-y selves!"

His words yielded no reaction; the console room continued to rumble. The shaking began to grow harder as the Doctor was thrown off his feet.

A familiar "vworping" sound filled the room and the Doctor's eyes fell to that thingy that moves up and down in the center of the room... Whatever it's called. He swallowed as he realized: The T.A.R.D.I.S was flying itself.

"No, no, no, no! Stop that!" The Doctor sprung to his feet and ran to the console, pressing buttons here and pulling levers there.

"I'm not enjoying this! Stop it, now!" He shouted, pulling the monitor towards him as the shaking stopped.

"Ooh," he peered closer. "A parallel universe..." He trailed off.

The last of the Time Lords sighed. He knew he should really leave. Definitely. But then again... This presented the possibility of an adventure. And he did love adventures...

"Why not," he smiled to himself and the Ponds flew out of his mind, if only for a moment.

Spinning in a complete pirouette, the once-again-joyful man gracefully jumped down the steps. Or he tried to. He tripped midway down and stumbled out the door -

- and into a dressing room.

Hmm, the Doctor thought. A dressing room. Never been in a dressing room before - never had to, what with the T.A.R.D.I.S closet. Interesting.

Reaching into his coat pocket, he scanned his surroundings before whipping out his sonic and, well, sonic-ing his surroundings.

Nothing suspicious here. Yet.

He sprung out of the changing room and into - a woman. They both keeled onto the floor.

"Oof, you should re-" the Doctor stopped abruptly as he saw the woman's face. She had shoulder length blond hair, held back halfway in a clip, and beautiful, dark green-brown eyes.

"Sorry, mate," she apologized in a distinct cockney accent.

The Doctor quickly leaped off of her and backed away.

"We're closin' up in five, 'kay? You can always come back tomorrow, we've got a sale goin' on."

"Yeh..." The Doctor couldn't take her eyes off of her. "Yeah, tomorrow. Guess I'll come back... Tomorrow."

"Thanks, mate."

"Yes... Thank you, Rose."

The woman raised her eyebrows, astonished.

"How do you know my name?"

The Doctor searched his mind for an answer. "Name tag," he finally supplied.

Laughing nervously, Rose looked down. "Sorry... I'm not wearin' a name tag."

Awkward silence.

"Well, I'd better run off," she smiled strangely, hoping this strange bow-tie-wearing-man wasn't a stalker of some sort.

A tall man appeared beside Rose and put his arm around her and the Doctor's eyes widened. He had amazing, spiky brown hair and sideburns.

"What's been holding you up?" John Smith asked her. "Oh, hello! Who's this?"

Eleven backed away as Rose turned back to him.

"Right, yeah, this is..." She paused, waiting for an answer.

"...nobody. Nobody important." The Doctor straightened his bow-tie and turned to go. Then John spoke.

"I wouldn't say that. I've been around a long time. Well, a version of me, but the point still stands. And y'know, I've never met anyone who wasn't important."

"Yes! Well." Eleven's eyes searched the room awkwardly. "I seem to have left something in the... Dressing room. Yes. The... Yes. So, I'm just going to go... Grab it. Go on without me, I'll be out behind you."

Rose and John shrugged and turned to leave, arm in arm.

They didn't notice the strange man watching them from behind as they laughed and kissed, eyes interlocked.

They didn't notice as a single, human-y wuman-y tear slipped down his cheek.

And they didn't hear the faint screeching of a T.A.R.D.I.S flying away to see the universe and to forget.

**So there's my first semi-sad fanific. If you liked it, review! If you hated it, review anyway and tell me why! Thanks! **


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